Interviews

1. Defining "Nikkei" through lineage and community involvement (Spanish)

2. The term Nikkei reflects ties to Japan (Spanish)

3. Japanese language education for Paraguayan Nisei (Spanish)

4. Treatment of Japanese Paraguayans during World War II (Spanish)

5. Inclusiveness of the first Japanese colony in Paraguay (Spanish)

6. Nikkei contributions to Paraguayan agriculture (Spanish)

7. Paraguayan with a Japanese face (Spanish)

Emi Kasamatsu

Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher

Treatment of Japanese Paraguayans during World War II (Spanish)

(Spanish) Initially, in 1903, the Paraguayan government passed a law barring black and yellow immigrants from entering. But over the years the law was abolished. In 1919, relations were first established between Paraguay and Japan. But immigrants didn’t start arriving until 1936. Of course, when the war broke out, Paraguay naturally had to take the side of the United States, and so it came out and declared war as well.

But, the important thing is that the Paraguayan government always respected the agreement they signed in 1919, which said that there would always be peaceful and friendly relations between the two countries. They always respected that, all the way up until today. There weren’t humiliations, there wasn’t concentration, concentration camps; there weren’t deportations, you know, none of those things. The only thing of course was that to adhere to the American cause, they closed schools, for example, and some diplomatic authorities returned to Japan. And that’s it, the rest was left alone. With no problems. So that’s why, with that kind of respect, I feel we were lucky, or, you know, the government did respect us.

immigration migration World War II

Date: October 7, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Ann Kaneko

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Emilia Yumi Kasamatsu (also known as “Emi”) was born and raised in La Colmena, Paraguay. La Colmena was the first Japanese colony in Paraguay. Her father was a prominent figure in the colony as an organizer and administrator. Emi has fond memories of a strict education that was a mix of Japanese and Paraguayan ideals. Her education provided an understanding of future aspirations and projections of her adult life in the capital of Paraguay. Kasamatsu graduated from the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras with a Bachelor in Literature, and received her postgraduate degree in Gender and Development at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA). She has published a variety of books on the topic of Japanese immigration into Paraguay and the Americas, which are written in the Spanish language and translated into Japanese and English: La presencia japonesa en el Paraguay (1987), La historia de la Asociación Panamericana Nikkei presencia e inmigración japonesas en las Americas (2005) (bilingual editions: Spanish and English); Edited by Akemi Kikumura: New World, New Lives (2002) and Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas (2002) in English and Japanese. Emi Kasamatsu is President of the Centro Social de Beneficencia Japonesa in Paraguay (2006-2008) and the first Vice President of the Asociación Paraguayo Japonesa (2005-2008). She was President of Centro Nikkei Paraguayo (an association of the Nisei in Paraguay) and the 6th Convención Panamericana Nikkei. Kasamatsu was delegate of Paraguay between 1987-2007. She is Vice Director of the Paraguayan Japanese Center for the Development of Human Resources, and is involved with the Academic and Cultural Coordination. (May 23, 2007)